COD
by leahloahla
Summary: My submission for 'Challenge Within the Other Challenges' from CCOAC. My prompt: Reid/JJ; spring cleaning, lilies, bunny. It's originally from 19 Back to Basics. The team is looking for an UNSUB, and JJ and Reid find him, well sort of. A one-shot.


**A/N: Hello people :) I'm going to be honest with you. I waited until the last possible minute to do this and ****I also don't really write stuff for JJ or Reid all that often**, so it's no where near what I want it to be. At first I had this cute little fluff piece planned but then I got this idea after talking to my friend (she helped me with the 'bunny' part of the prompt [we were both tired and at a stupid concert at a high school we didn't want to be at, so don't judge us] thanks Meggie May!). Thank you in advance for reading it and please let me know what you think!

**This is my submission for Challenge Within the Other Challenges on CCOAC. My prompt is Reid/JJ; spring cleaning, lilies, bunny, it's originally from 19 Back to Basics and was given to Bren Gail.  
**

It was a sunny and warm day in Florida, it was the kind of day you would spend chasing your kid around at the park, not hunting down an UNSUB. Their current serial killer was kidnaping prostitutes, holding them for around twelve hours, and then he killed them. The bodies were found in a parking lot a few days later, covered in white lily petals. For some reason though, the UNSUB had broken from pattern. His current victim had been missing for almost forty-eight hours, he hadn't taken another girl yet and a body had not yet been recovered. This break is what allowed the BAU team to identify the UNSUB. JJ and Reid were assigned to go to the UNSUB's house, while Hotch, Rossi and Morgan went to the secondary location where they believed the victims were being held.

"You know," Reid started. "The UNSUB's choice to use white lily petals to cover the bodies of his victims is quite ironic."

"You don't say," JJ remarked, never taking her eyes off the road. For once, Reid's babbling was a nice distraction.

"Yeah. White lilies symbolize chastity and virtue, the exact opposite of prostitutes. It's like he's trying to make them pure by covering them in the petals. Lilies are also associated with funerals, because they symbolize that the soul of the departed has received restore innocence after death. So in the UNSUB's mind, he's doing his victims a favour."

"He's got a pretty twisted idea of a favour," JJ mumbled in reply.

JJ pulled into the long driveway and parked the SUV halfway down as not to be seen by the UNSUB and alert him of their presence. JJ stepped out onto the gravel driveway in front of the house and took a look around. The house was shrouded in trees, most of which seemed dead or in the process of dying, there were pieces of garbage and other crap all along the driveway leading to the house. JJ turned to the officers and SWAT team that had come with them and told them the plan; she and Reid would take the front door with a few officers for back up, and the others would go around back. JJ and Reid lead the group down the driveway in silence. The house finally came into view and it wasn't what they expected it to look like. The house itself was a complete mess, the siding was falling off and there was trash all around, but the surprising thing about the yard was that there were beautiful gardens all across the lawn. The flowers seemed to get more attention than anything else around the property.

JJ carefully walked up the rickety deck and turned the knob of the door; it was open. She gave a quick nod to Reid and they burst into the house. They quickly cleared the many rooms of the old house and were about halfway done when an officer called them into the kitchen.

"I think I found the suspect," he called through the house.

JJ and Reid got to the kitchen at the same time and saw the UNSUB lying face down on the tile floor. They glanced at each other before returning their gazes to the floor. The Officer reached down to check for a pulse, and after a moment he shook his head.

"I'll call for a coroner," JJ stated.

The SWAT team leader entered the room. "There's no sign of the missing woman anywhere on the property," he told them.

"I'll call Hotch," Reid said and went into the other room.

After the body had been removed and evidence was collected, JJ and Reid stood in the UNSUB's kitchen. The other's had found the missing woman, still alive, at the secondary location and they were on their way to the UNSUB's house.

"God, does it ever stink in here," JJ commented.

"That would be the raw meat left out on the counter," Reid replied, pointing to the dead animals that were sitting not far from where they were standing. "It appears to be rabbit meat. You know, there is a lot of controversy surrounding the topic of eating rabbit meat. Some people say that it's wrong, but the meat serves as a nutritious alternative to beef and pork. It's relatively low in fat; it gives you a giant boost of vitamin B-12, which helps with your central nervous system and metabolism as well as the formation of red blood cells."

"Are you saying that we should all be eating that stuff?" JJ questioned with a smile.

"Actually, no. While it is good for you, too much can have dire consequences," he replied, completely contradicting what the just said.

"So at first glance, what do you think killed the UNSUB?" JJ asked as she walked around the room.

"There's no blood anywhere and he didn't appear to be harmed physically in any way that we could see, so it wasn't something violent," Reid said. "There doesn't seem to be any trace of someone else being here before he died, so it might not be poisoning."

"So then how did he die?" JJ pondered.

JJ and Reid stood in the morgue, waiting for cause of death. The ME entered the room and greeted them with a nod.

"I believe I've found cause of death," the ME told the agents.

"You believe?" Reid questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," he confirmed. "There were no wounds that would have caused him to die, so I ran multiple blood tests. There seemed to be excess levels of amino acids and ammonia in the bloodstream, which lead me to re-examine the contents of his stomach. I found a lot of rabbit meat and very little vegetables."

"That's what was all over the counter top at the UNSUB's house," Reid said in awe. "I don't see how I didn't connect the dots sooner."

"Well it is quite rare," the ME agreed. "Had I not been at the scene, I wouldn't have even known what to look for."

JJ looked between the two; she had no idea what they were talking about.

"Would someone mind telling me what cause of death is?" she asked.

"Rabbit starvation," Reid replied. "No matter how much meat he ate, he would have always been hungry because the meat is just too lean. He must have been sick for some time, yet he continued to kill the prostitutes. It's a wonder he managed to keep up his routine for such a long time."

"Wait, wait, wait," JJ said, stopping Reid from going on. "So let me get this straight... Our UNSUB -who's been killing prostitutes for the last year without being caught- died from eating a bunny?" JJ asked no one in particular.

"It appears so," Reid replied with a shrug.


End file.
